Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Information, news stories, and questions about True Traditionalist Orthodox Churches. This is the place to post encyclicals and any official public communications from True Orthodox jurisdictions.


Moderator: Mark Templet

Post Reply
User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Post by Barbara »

Image

In the fall of 1957, Archbishop Seraphim was assigned to the Diocese of Chicago and Detroit. Archimandrite Innokenty (Bystrov) was appointed Rector of New-Root Hermitage. Born in Siberia, Fr Vasily (Bystrov) was sent to prison in Vladivostok twice after the Revolution: the first time in 1927 for refusing to join the Living Church, and then later that year for teaching the Law of God. The following year, once again for refusing to serve with Living Church clergymen, he was expelled from the Vladivostok Diocese, then from the Blagoveshchensky Diocese. Fr Vasily was forced to flee his homeland and settle in Harbin, China, where he served in the “House of Mercy,” and in 1934 he founded a Russian Orthodox parish which he headed for almost fifteen years on the island of Java in Indonesia. From there he moved to San Francisco, CA. There he was welcomed by Vladyka Seraphim, who suggested that he move to New-Root Hermitage to be his senior aide. In 1953, Protopriest Vasily Bystrov was tonsured a monk and given the name Innokenty, a name he drew himself from among three slips of paper on the altar table.

In 1958, the second original resident of the Hermitage, the ekonom [steward] Hegumen Viktorin (Lyabakh), was appointed Rector of the Russian parish in Teheran, Iran. Archimandrite Innokenty remained at the Hermitage without another priest-monk, and had to celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Nativity of the Mother of God Church alone. On the feast day of the church, when the house church could not accommodate the many visiting worshipers, Liturgy would be celebrated at the outdoor chapel [which he had built himself ].

http://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments ... nhome.html

++++++++++
More in-depth coverage :

In Memoriam: Archimandrite Innokenty (Bystrov)
(To the 35th Anniversary of His Repose)

On the night of September 26-27, 1981, the feast day of the Elevation of the Cross of the Lord, after a long, serious illness, Archimandrite Innokenty (Bystrov) reposed in the Lord.

Fr Innokenty was born in Irkutsk on December 4, 1890, and baptized with the name Vasily. His parents were Vasily and Anna Bystrov. His father died early, when young Vasily was only two. He had two brothers, Innokenty and Alexander, and a sister, Varvara. The latter two siblings also died at an early age.

Vasily spent his childhood in Irkutsk, where he sang in the church choir. In 1906, he moved to Vladivostok and studied choir directing, and was then appointed director of a cathedral choir. In 1909, he married, then moved to Nikolo-Ussuriisk, where he began teaching liturgical music.

In 1914, his wife, a teacher by the name of Elizaveta, died. Vasily then dedicated his life to serving the Church. Returning to Vladivostok in 1925, he was ordained to the preisthood and resumed leading the cathedral choir, and also began teaching the Law of God. In 1930, he was arrested and sent to a lumber camp, whence he managed to escape to Harbin, China. He lived there until 1935, taking part in local Church life, after moving [ to Java, the most populous island in the world and the center of Indonesia's political, economic and cultural life ], where he ministered to Russian refugees. [ One would like to know more about this. Was Fr Vasily based in Jakarta, the capital ? What kind of Church was he in charge of there - or did he build one ? This is fascinating information which invites further research. Perhaps Fr Vasily traveled visiting the emigres wherever they were located. How did the emigres arrrive in mostly Muslim Java, one wonders ? Perhaps business interests going back to the colonial era when Holland ruled Indonesia were a factor in the presence of Russian emigration to this sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands rich in natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, tin, copper and other minerals. ]

In 1950, Protopriest Vasily moved to the United States, and lived in San Francisco’s St Tikhon of Zadonsk House. A year later, Fr Vasily moved to New Kursk-Root Hermitage in Mahopac, NY. At the time, Bishop Seraphim (Ivanov) was the monastery’s abbot, who tonsured Fr Vasily to monasticism and gave him the name Innokenty. Fr Innokenty was soon elevated to the rank of hegumen, then, in 1958, archimandrite. Upon the appointment of Bishop Seraphim to the Chicago Diocese, Fr Innokenty became the abbot of New Kursk-Root Hermitage. Fr Innokenty labored for 25 long years at the monastery. Through his efforts and prayers, he attracted many worshipers, especially on the feast day of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign.”

In 1977, Archimandrite Innokenty was sent to the Holy Land and served at Mt of Olives Ascension Convent and St Mary Magdalene Convent in Gethsemane. He lived in Ascension Convent and prayed at the great holy sites of Jerusalem, finding consolation and spiritual joy in praying for his many spiritual children.

In the spring of 1981, it was discovered that Fr Innokenty had esophageal cancer. After Holy Pascha, he returned to the USA and his spiritual children had him hospitalized, where he was cured.

After he was discharged from the hospital, he was settled at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY, where he frequently communed of the Holy Gifts of Christ. A week before his death, the Queen of Heaven visited him in the form of the Kursk-Root Icon."

http://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments ... strov.html

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Post by Barbara »

An even more famous archpastor with the last name in the world of Bystrov was - does anyone know offhand ?!

St Theophan the Recluse of Vysha

Back to Archimandrite Innokenty [Bystrov ], one wonders why the ending of the above account is so abrupt. We would like to know more about his final days from anyone who is still alive who recalls this hard-working, long-suffering cleric who endured many uprootings, but was always helped by the Kursk Root Icon !

This narrative, written by Rocor-MP, pointedly leaves out the fact that Metropolitan Philaret often visited Mahopac. It was like a vacation place for him, so he used to try to get away there whenever his schedule permitted during some of the earlier part of his tenure as Metropolitan.

Nothing in the story mentioned whether the two served together ? Or any wise words told by the Metropolitan to Archimandrite Innokenty ? Too bad the latter apparently did not keep a diary ! Regrettably, this personal information might only have been confided to a journal or to one or two close friends who are no longer among the living.

Even earlier, then-Fr. Vasily must have known the future Metropolitan Philaret because he served in the same Church in Harbin ! It was not a large one and definitely not prestigious, from firsthand descriptions I heard from old Russian emigres. One man, ordained a deacon, told me that then-Archimandrite Philaret tried to convince him to serve at this House of Mercy. But this man refused, preferring the glamorous Cathedral at which served --- would it have been Metropolitan Melety ? - I don't have my notes in front of me but at any rate the highest ranking Russian Orthodox hierarch in populous Harbin.
Archimandrite Philaret again beseeched this man to serve in the choir of the distant, small, not-so- beautiful church where an orphanage was attached. Again the luxury-loving man refused. He explained to me that he wanted to dress nicely and look sharp. But he couldn't do that with the tiny salary he would have made at the House of Mercy. The Cathedral paid significantly more for choir members.
3 or 4 times Archimandrite Philaret persisted.

Having chosen the more worldly way, this man closed his ears to the future Saint's entreaties.
Many misfortunes befell him not long afterwards. Lacking discernment, he was readily cajoled by Soviet agents into returning to the Soviet Union and instead of being allowed to live peacefully, he was sent for years to Magadan, one of the most dreaded concentration camps. Finally after years of misery, the man was released and after more years of living in poverty in Ukraine, he managed to emigrate to America. But he needed a sponsor for citizenship and wished to serve in a Rocor Church. He wrote to the same archpastor who now was First Hierarch of the entire Rocor in New York asking to be accepted as a deacon in Rocor. Metropolitan Philaret remembered this petitioner instantly. He replied calmly : "When I asked you to do a small thing in Harbin, you said no. So now I will not help you." And that was that.

I see this is an example of divine justice and fairness. There is no need to demonstrate phony 'mercifulness' when principles are stake, as Metropolitan Philaret showed in his decisive handling of this matter. Neither did the First Hierarch want people with no backbone serving in Rocor, one surmises.

The by-now elderly deacon had no choice but to approach the OCA, which immediately accepted him.

How much easier it would have been to make a SMALL sacrifice back when he was younger and agree to then-Archimandrite Philaret's gentle request than to turn his back on the Saint and be forced to live through countless trials and tribulations, all of which could have been averted ! Ironically, the by now 90+ year old deacon [at the time I spoke with him ] did not once express sorrow or regreat for his decisions when relating this story to me. He recounted it in a matter - of - fact way. Curiously, the elderly man did not evince the slightest air of sheepishness, sadness or shame, as one would expect after having endured all that unnecessary suffering.

He never admitted the obvious : "I made a mistake in running away from Metropolitan Philaret in Harbin when I was young."

In contrast, we know that Archimandrite Innokenty selected the right path from the start ! A deeply spiritual person who must have had strong character, then-Fr Vasily willingly chose this same House of Mercy without regard for his convenience [ it was far away from the center of Harbin, and the Russian emigres normally had no other way to travel but to walk all those miles ] or for salary or glamor. In contrast to the worldly deacon above, Archimandrite Innokenty became a monastic and was entrusted with many important responsibilities by the Synod under Metropolitan Philaret, ending his life as a holy figure.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Post by Barbara »

I wanted to clarify that the House of Mercy's Church was called The Joy of All Who Sorrow.
Background on the founding of the Church and the sensational renewing of its Icon, before which the future Archimandrite Innokenty must have prayed countless times, follows :

"The Harbin Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"

"In the 1920's in the Far East, in the city of Harbin a young Bishop Nestor, through his labors and efforst established the "House of Mercy," a charitable institution/hostel, both for the elderly and sick and for orphaned children. At this House of Mercy, Bishop Nestor set up and consecrated a church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow." Learning of this, one of the Bishop's close assistants, a deeply-religious Russian woman, Ekaterina Ivanovna Kurmey, donated her own icon of this type. The ancient icon had already darkened so much from time that it was almost impossible to discern the faces of the saints, let alone reading the inscriptions.

"One day, the rector of the church, now deceased, Fr. Julian Sumnevich (particularly revered by the Orthodox residents of Harbin for his spirituality and irreproachable life) noticed that the old icon began to lighten and renew itself...Not believing his eyes, he decided to wait some time; but the renewal was progressing quickly, and in a few hours the icon was so bright that the miracle was undoubtable and apparent to everyone who saw it and knew its previous condition.

"Within a day, the holy Icon was absolutely bright, the faces of the saints and the inscriptions were distinct and so clear that one could believe that the Icon had only just been painted.

"This stupendous miracle of God's grace roused the entire city. Old residents of Harbin remember this event well. Believers from all over began coming to the new holy Icon to venerate it and pray--and the renewed Icon became one of the most important holy objects not only of the church, but of all of Orthodox Harbin.

"When the last rector of the church of the House of Mercy, Archimandrite Philaret (later the third First-Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), also left Harbin for Australia after great difficulty, and then on to the USA, the renewed Icon remained in this church, along with other holy objects. The church was closed after its rector had left, and its holy objects and items became the property of the Chinese government. After many strenuous and difficult efforts, the acting warden of the church of the previous several years, Z.L. Tauz-Zvereva managed to gain permission to export the holy Icon. Only in the fall of 1965, during Vladyka Metropolitan Philaret's trip to Europe, was the renewed Icon, after a lengthy stay in Hong Kong, sent to the USA to the Synodal Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, where it remains in the lower church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The present clergy of the Synodal Cathedral bear witness to the fact that occasionally, myrrh appears on the surface of the Icon."

http://www.synod.com/synod/engrocor/enicons.html

Last edited by Barbara on Sun 27 November 2016 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Post by Barbara »

A few further nuggets of information come from the 2017 ROYC Church Calendar.

The Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon which Catherine Kurmaya donated to the House of Mercy orphanage was passed down through her family. By the time this good woman inherited it from her mother, the icon was so dark that little could be seen.

Due to the special favor of Heaven, it was on the Feast of St Catherine that the brightening began.
The process took only one day ; it was completed December 8, 1923.

"Eyewitnesses related : first the haloes surrounding the faces became brighter ; then the garments and face of the Lord Sabaoth, the All-Holy Theotokos and the pre-eternal Infant A little before the faces of the Mother of God and the Savior were renewed, the images of the angels started appearing to the right and left of the icon. And only when the brightening of the colors at the very top of the icon was complete did the image of the Lord Sabaoth become visible.

"The miracle of the renewal of the icon inspired all Harbin [ a vast population of Russian emigres who had fled Communism ]. Believers from various places began to journey there to pray at the miraculously renewed icon, which became the principal holy object of all of Orthodox Harbin.

"Many instances of miraculous healing of those who had recourse to the icon were recorded."


  • ROYC Calendar 2017

There is a rare picture of the Joy of All Who Sorrow Church at the Harbin House of Mercy opposite November.
[ For many years I had been wanting to see what it looked like ; no one I met seemed to have preserved a picture, possibly because it was not one of the grand architectural Churches of Harbin. ]
We can thus imagine the relatively humble place where then-Fr. Vasily served, assumedly under Archimandrite Philaret -- if the timing coincided with the latter's years there, which seems likely.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Archimandrite Innokenty [ Bystrov ] of Rocor

Post by Barbara »

Here is a picture of this miraculously renewed Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon.
To imagine that this very Icon was only a solid black board at the time of the renewal. Apparently, it was not only dim but completely covered with oil, perhaps from dripping lampadas, and thick soot.

This gave heart to the 75,000 Orthodox living in Harbin at the time.
[ Notice the similarity of the words "heart and Harbin".... ]

Image

Post Reply